The State of Play
Pep Guardiola and Manchester City are still attempting to historically defend the treble that they achieved last season. They are already into the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League and are firmly in the Premier League title race after managing to hold Liverpool to a 1-1 draw at Anfield last weekend in a game in which the Cityzens did appear slightly rattled, especially in the second-half.
Newcastle United have become the Premier League’s entertainers. In what has been a thrilling campaign for the whole of the league with the goals per game average consistently growing, Eddie Howe’s Newcastle have been the team most impacted by the gung-ho nature of the league with their 28 matches so far this season consisting of a combined total of 107 goals in the top-flight.
Team News
Pep Guardiola and Manchester City are set to be without both Ederson and Kevin De Bruyne as they pulled out of Brazil and Belgium’s squads ahead of the international break, whilst Jack Grealish remains unavailable, too.
Newcastle United have been dealing with several injury concerns throughout the season but it appears that winger Anthony Gordon will be available but Sandro Tonali, who is suspended, and key men such as Nick Pope and Joelinton who are injured, will be unavailable.
Expected Line-ups
Manchester City: Ortega; Lewis, Akanji, Gvardiol, Gomez; Rodri, Kovacic; Bobb, Alvarez, Doku; Haaland
Newcastle United: Dubravka; Livramento, Schar, Botman, Burn; Longstaff, Guimaraes, Willock; Almiron, Isak, Gordon
What they Said
Pep Guardiola discussed the future of Jurgen Klopp after their final Premier League meeting last weekend, suggesting the German ‘will be back’ because the Liverpool boss ‘loves the job’.
Eddie Howe was left criticisng individual errors and lapses for his team losing at Chelsea last week. “They weren’t necessarily coming. Sometimes you can feel a goal coming against you away from home when you’re under pressure, but I didn’t feel we were. They were self-induced mistakes from us.”
When and How to Watch
This match will be played at the Etihad Stadium at 17:30 on Saturday March 16th and will be shown live on BBC One. It will also be able to be streamed live via the BBC iPlayer app.
Prediction
In the two league meetings between these sides so far this season, Manchester City have edged by with 1-0 and 3-2 victories and, much like they have been for most of the campaign, they were relatively unconvincing and lacking a little fluency. However, they are now unbeaten in their last 21 matches across all competitions and they should extend that to 22 with a victory here, especially at the Etihad Stadium.
